Crisis Core: The Novel
by Team Wingless
Summary: A young SOLDIER wields his mentor's sword against his own army, only to discover that the true enemy is his own tainted blood. Now to flee the monsters that pursue him, he'll have to go where angels fear to tread.
1. Chapter 1 - Shinra Express

A paraselene umbra ringed the moon, casting Coriolis shadows on a Paragon Fighter Mech-chopper. Every SOLDIER knew, helicopters did everything but fly.

There he sat, freaking out in the helo's cockpit, locked in the cold rush of fear and honed training.

"_Zack! On my Mark!" _the comm blared as he slid the body-strap from his shoulders. He saw the train below, saw the enemy troops converging like ants on the roof, and judging by the tracer-rounds tearing up the sky, they saw him too. _Aw hell_.

The chopper lurched a sharp left, _stupid whirly-birds!_ Every year one went down because some rookie test-pilot pulled a fast one below 500 feet. Zack braced as a rocket-propelled grenade screamed by the rotors. They were lobbing anti-aircraft fire up at them. Well if the chopper was going to crash after all, he'd rather not be in it.

_Now or never, _he made the Jump.

Zack sailed on the rush of air, whirling vertigo assaulting his equilibrium. He felt himself falling through rush-fractus and frozen cumulus cloudbursts, bits of ice congealing on his lashes.

But then an image flashed before his eyes, and he was no longer in this world's sky…

…He saw her wreathed in a hue of emerald, lithe and airy with hair like silky tidal waves in the midst of summer. She gazed at him and smiled like she'd been waiting for someone for a long time. He hung suspended in a subliminal stasis, darkness thick like molasses in a netherworld that engulfed them. She reached out her hand…and then she was gone.

He flailed in midair, terminal velocity slamming him in the gut. Ripped back to reality, he tensed his body while throwing his arms out to level himself. His training held, the count he did to keep time, when he reached a low number he shifted his body-posture to hit feet-first. He landed crouched on the train roof, sheered his sword out and rushed into the fray.

Troops converged all around him, he leapt into an elliptical twirling slash sending screaming figures flying off the roof. Bullets rained in a hail of hot lead to shatter a passing rail light down on him, leaving tiny cuts across his pale face and peppering his black hair. No fear, no time, a welling anger rose in his throat. His sword came down in a fighting blur to slice a rifle in half, then rushed up in a blinding uppercut to slice its trooper in half. He danced a sword-ballet flailing all over the place, his blade flowing about like the edging of a screw, rush-slashing and killing them all—or so he thought.

A blade sliced air behind him. He reacted, whirling around to cross-lock swords with a _huge _man. His mentor bore into him ominous and looming.

"Zack, focus!" the man yelled, but Zack just grunted and _swung at him_. The man backstepped in time with Zack's blade-hits, a massive sword of his own upslicing his student's longblade. Zack pressed forward, sword trailing, and swung wide at the man's shoulder. A bigger sword twisted Zack's blade tip to shrug it aside, throwing him off balance. A huge straight-slash and they were locked again.

"There are _no Shinra troops_ on this train!" yelled his mentor. "If you screw up, you're dead!"

He spun his sword in a crescent arc that threw Zack across the roof of the train. Zack toppled into a sweeping dive roll, staggering back to his feet, but a rain of bullets made him dead-stop whirling to keep his balance, he fell forward again. A bullet struck millimeters from his hand, he felt the heat of its flash powder on his fingertips and lurched his arm back.

"_Whoo_," he whistled. "Hello to you too!"

He jumped up, dashed in a leap over to the next train car, and sprinted into the amalgam of troops with his sword singing. A phenomenal power-slash sliced through their detachment like he was playing hockey, but they just _kept coming._The tracks separated up ahead, he jumped down in between the cable cars driving his sword into the connecting rods. The rebel troops went one way, and Zack threw them a lazy salute as he went another.

_Sayonara fukkaz._

The train car pulled into the station and he jumped off with his sword rested over his shoulder, letting his guard down until the sheen of a metallic scream sounded behind him. He froze.

The point of a daikatana slit his earlobe, cold terror shot down his spine. The sword brushed his cheek from behind like a taunting lover, and he put his hands up. Slowly.

A cold voice.

A deep voice.

"Showing your back to the enemy…" velveteen darkness regarded him in a calm storm of syllables. "Overconfidence will destroy you."

The voice of absolute authority bore straight through Zack's façade, snatching away his victory in the span of a few words. The brutal, humiliating truth, he'd failed.

Zack sighed, letting his head drop low. The hunter in him vanished like a dream, revealing a kid—a twenty-something rookie with pierced ears and boots that weren't dirty yet.

He turned in a cloud of shame to face his mentor, and saw that it wasn't his mentor standing there. He gasped.

A tall figure like a living star stood in his wake, the sharp face of angelic darkness marred in the pale pallor of death. With hair like silver comet tails streaking down to his boots, he was the most malefic image of malevolent beauty Zack had ever beheld in his life.

Then in a flash that deadly daikatana streaked for him in aero-slashes. He whipped his sword in quick swipes with one hand as Zack flayed his up to cover, he whirled his arms at cerulean cured metal that streaked for him in razor slashes.

He cross-slashed with all his might at the malevolent being to cross blades, and in that harrowing hit, Zack's sword shattered. Time seemed to end in that endless second of stasis, a moment held in suspension somewhere between life and death. Zack's heart beat in his ears, all of his hopes and dreams played before him like a black-and-white theatre. A phenomenal arc-slash from the daikatana leered for the kill, but Zack found his broken sword crossed in front of him, blocking it.

His mentor shoved the malefic figure back with Zack's blade, leaping in front of him to charge. Zack saw a dark gladiator battle an evil angel in the null of industrial void. His mentor caught the edge of the daikatana with the broken sword, whipped it up, and stabbed straight through the stoic figure's torso.

Then, tone-outs. The walls around them stuttered and glitched, fading in a pixelated rain. The malefic figure short-circuited, revealing only the face of Zack's dark mentor.

"Mission's over," he said.

"Wha—" Zack stumbled to his feet aghast, the green holovision of the AR helmet obstructing his balance. "WHY!" The geosync metronome of his helmet registered his mentor in front of him, spinning to get an accurate reading. A broken sword pointed at its instrument, startling Zack back.

He ripped the AR helmet from his head, taking an aggressive step toward his mentor. "I was just getting warmed up!"

Now the hunter was back in his eyes, but not to hunt, to fight. He stood strong against his older mentor, determined that he was right, angry that he was being proven wrong. The blatant broken sword leered in his face like the shining example of his botched mission.

"Zack," the big man bore into his student, who wouldn't look up to meet his gaze. It was just like a kid to have trouble accepting responsibility for his missteps. "If you want to be _First_, you need to have honor."

Behind Zack's smoldering eyes, he could see the disappointment, the self-doubt. Zack wasn't mad at his mentor, he was mad at himself, mad for thinking he could actually pull it off and be everything he felt in his heart. He was no hero, just a dreamer.

The tall stallion of a man strode past him, adding something as he opened the simulation field door.

"…and dreams."

Zack looked up as his mentor left the training room, leaving him to mull over this day's lesson. But as the leaded sheet-glass doors slid shut automatically, his own waking dream came back to him in monochrome.

He didn't see the technovoid of hologram pattern-cameras that projected visual stimulus for rookies to practice in—had they malfunctioned? Nor did he discern the radial-mirrors that looped movement-feedback to the simulations computers lined along the walls, for a moment he didn't see his stats projected onto the overhead monitor showing he'd garnered _Zero Stars _for this training mission.

All he saw were her eyes.

.

[Received Potion]


	2. Chapter 2 - Zack Fair

Zack Fair, 2nd Class SOLDIER, 1st Class screwup, royal dillweed extraordinaire.

He'd been a member of the elite paramilitary unit SOLDIER for less than six months, and already he'd single-handedly busted three carbon-fiber field swords, two laser-sighted assault rifles, one cellphone, and a partridge in a pear tree. No one could figure out how he did it, he had a natural talent for being a talentless wrecking ball.

He'd been lucky to jump into the recruiting pool during the hiring boom, the Shinra Electric Company needed boots on the ground and warm bodies to fill them. The multinational mega-conglomerate staked their fortune in the production and distribution of Magnesium Kobaltite—_Mako—_but not everyone was happy about having their farmlands shrivel into dustpools during the mining process. That's where SOLDIER came in, technically billeted under the Navel Airship Fleet's rating known as SEALs, they conducted counter-terrorism in the interest of National Security—ie _Shinra's _National Security. But as a low-ranking 2nd, all Zack was conducting were training missions and janitor duty.

They'd bumped him up from a 3rd—_thank god_—and assigned him to a senior member of SOLDIER for mentoring. Angeal Hewely was a hardened war veteran, a member of the famed trio known as the Silver Elite with a reputation that rumored him his own fan club. Zack was ecstatic to be working with him—for about an hour. Angeal stepped up to fill a role Zack's father had apparently neglected, _disciplinarian. _

Zack liked to talk, _a lot, _so Angeal made him stand on a table in the break room giving speeches to the entire unit about why he loved being in SOLDIER. If Zack showed up for duty and his uniform wasn't pressed or his boots weren't shined, he was running until lunch time with his sword over his head. If he couldn't recite the ten Standard Operating Procedures and eighteen Watch-Out Situations, he was carrying the punching bag up the sand dune out back singing war songs at the top of his lungs loud enough for President Shinra to hear out in Costa del Sol. Angeal was a service-member at heart who had earned his reputation through devotion to duty and a strict moral code, he wasn't about to let some punk kid from the sticks screw it up.

When Zack was late, he got the longest lectures of his life. Angeal harped on him about his honor, his sworn word that he gave when he signed up for SOLDIER to be the best he could be, a sacred oath that should extend to everything he did in life from protecting his friends in battle to tying his boot laces to being on time for work.

"How can being two minutes late be dishonorable!"

"Count 'em out." Angeal waved him off.

Zack sighed and started squatting. "1…2…3…"

Angeal came down hard on his new student, he was a man of stern principals and iron resolve. He held his word second to nothing, the kind of man who stood on ceremony and expected the same from those around him. As if being run into the ground on a daily basis wasn't enough for Zack, Angeal demoted him to his dog.

"This is my new puppy Zack," he'd say as he introduced him to other higher-ups with his hands on his shoulders. "I just picked him up from the pound. I'm training him to be a fighter, but I've barely got him off using puppy-pads."

Zack slumped. Even his humanity had to be earned. If he thought his first six months in SOLDIER had been downright miserable, his second six months gave "sucked" a new meaning.

"_This guy just doesn't get it!_" Zack thought, forgetting that his mentor was once a 2nd too. What with all the extra work he was having to do _off_ company time just to make ends meet, he was ready to keel over and die. 2nds had a hacksaw taken to their paychecks like it was somehow their civic duty. Payroll took out all kinds of miscellaneous allowances that showed up like huge middle-fingers on their statements; a weapons and armor stub plus an obscene deposit (in case you somehow suffered massive brain death and lost your sword in the field), an ammo cap that got smaller each month with the excuse that "increased skill" should lead to increased conservation, uniform and cleaning costs because the thing had to be practically dry-cleaned in a hydron collider, eye exams that were the stuff of legends, medical, dental, life insurance, and the company didn't even mess around with boots, which gutted him $500 gil for those waffle-stompers. Barracks weren't free, which should have been a crime. And of course there was the mandatory surgical procedure that infused all indoctrinated members of SOLDIER with Mako energy, allowing them to use special _Materia_—piezoelectric crystal fuel-cells that imbued the user with certain heightened abilities. Zack's insurance hadn't covered that procedure, his _mom _was still paying it off.

The Materia his new "superpowers" allowed him to use though—not provided for by the company either—had to be found out in the godforsaken wilderness by SOLDIER's on their own time and on their own dime, which is what Zack had been doing right before coming in to work today.

Walking through the lobby of the Shinra Corporate HQ, Zack bumped into an executive in a pressed business suit, or moreover the exec bumped into him like it was nothing.

"Sorry 'bout that," the guy grinned like his teeth were made of expensive. He barely made eye contact before moving on, and Zack sighed with sleep still in his eyes.

"_Ngh. _Maybe I should have gone to college."

Suddenly, his phone went off, the one thing the company actually paid for. He whipped out his pink RAZR to see the alarm flashing a "MISSION" message, meaning he was already late.

"_DYAAH_!" he dashed down the hall to the SOLDIER's wing tripping over his own feet.

In a bizarre coincidence, Angeal intercepted him at the training room.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" he asked. Zack threw his hands in the air.

"_AARGH! _I was out looking for Materia and now I'm late for a mission!"

Angeal nodded, crossing his arms.

"I see. Well if you're on a mission, where's your sword?"

"I—" he reached over his shoulder, no sword. "_AHH_!"

Angeal shook his head as Zack went sprinting back the way he came. "Ever the restless puppy."

.

[Received Soma]


	3. Chapter 3 - Sephiroth

But things weren't all bad in SOLDIER, at least they were getting better at the same rate that Zack was. His mentor would spar with him for hours in the Training Room until he literally couldn't lift his sword, and then they'd go rounds hand-to-hand since his weapon became too heavy. Every now and then, Zack would score on Angeal, and then pay for it dearly, but at least he'd scored!

He had his choice of weapons. A lot of the smaller guys carried vibrosabers for dual-efficiency, but Zack was a _bigger_ smaller guy and carried a two-hander longsword—because he was "tough" and could handle it. So Angeal never let him put it down, if Zack was going to carry it then he was going to carry it. After all, Angeal had to carry _his sword. _

_His Sword. _

His sword was a family heirloom, a tungsten carbide devil cleaver with a torso as big as Zack, a ball-bashing Buster Sword. Zack watched him cleaning the thing, thinking he'd never loved a woman the way he loved that sword. Weirdo.

There were days when it just got to be too much though, the enduring grind too hard and frustrating. Zack would throw his sword across the training room and sit on the floor fuming at himself, wondering if he would ever get the hang of things, wondering if he was even cut out for SOLDIER to begin with.

"Hey," Angeal would crouch down to his level, an even tone in his voice. "You followed your dreams. You made it here. You deserve to be here, and when I'm through with you you're going to make a lot of people proud."

Those anecdotes had been coming more and more frequent lately, and after being deprived of humanity for so long, he only needed one kind word to jolt him back to his feet with a mad energy to please. Small jokes had been being exchanged, little ribbing insults in good fun, and Zack felt himself pining to be in his mentor's good graces.

After all, in the end SOLDIER was about making people proud, making your friends proud, making yourself proud…but mostly making the _girls_ proud!

And Zack knew that better than anyone. He spent half an hour every morning with a pocket hair-straightener and a fist full of Palmade preening his hair into stylish spikes. The acne lotion he'd been using for four years had finally started working and the difference showed just like the ad said it would. It stood to reason that his look would be sullied by the afternoon, so he took his straightener with him in a carrying case to be left in his locker. He forgot it there one day, the one day he wore his helmet all day.

He was lucky today though, his hair was doing something really cool, and there was a new girl working the reception counter at HQ. He sauntered right up to her and leaned on the counter with a coy smile.

"Hi. I don't recognize you. You must be a new-hire. I'm Zack."

"Oh! Wait just a minute…" and she punched a few key strokes into her holo-deck. "Let's see. Your name is Zack Fair. SOLDIER 2nd Class. You're 6'2" and you like to do squats. Interesting."

"_Really_? You think so?" Zack caught himself. "I mean, yeah, of course! I like to keep in shape. It takes a lot of endurance to handle all the dangerous missions that SOLDIER's like me take on."

"Huh, I don't see any mission badges on your record."

"Oh, uh, well…" Zack sweated. "That's…because they haven't logged them in the system yet. It takes like a standard work week to process stuff and then it's gotta go through Payroll, you know the gambit. Takes for bloody ever! When I first got here I had to wait five whole pay periods just to get my first check!"

"How awful!"

"Yeah tell me about it! Guys were throwing money into a pot just to feed me."

"You poor thing. Hopefully everything's all sorted out now."

"Aw yeah it's all good now, got a stacked account, I buy what a want when I want, including, ah…dinner for friends every now and then."

Then a pop-up on the holoscreen, and the girl's expression changed.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked.

"Well, I have your Shinra Credit Union account information in front of me. Would you like to know your balance?"

Zack slumped halfway to the floor, sighing the most defeated sigh any living thing was capable of sighing.

"No thank you…can I just see my schedule?"

She punched a few more keystrokes in her holodeck. "I have you on standby as of right now, but you're to report to the briefing room at oh-nine-hundred hours, it says here."

_Huh, what for? _

"Thanks," he waved to her and started toward Briefing, too glum to even get her name.

He took the elevator up to the SOLDIER wing and coursed down the plain white hallway with his hands in his pockets. An array of company posters lined the corridor, policy listings a mile long in print the size of ants. A minimum wage poster was tacked up with very small numbers in very large font. _ARE YOU BEING BULLIED AT WORK? _showed a stick figure with a sword poking another crying stick figure. _SEXUAL HARRASSMENT IS NOT OKAY! _warned a poster depicting a lurking SOLDIER stick figure with a buster sword creeping up behind a girl stick figure holding flowers.

He arrived at the Briefing room to find Angeal already starting out of it. "You're late, Zack."

"What? No way!" he took out his phone. 9:02. "You serious?" He sighed, preparing for the longest lecture of his life and an hour straight of grinder PT.

But Angeal just smiled and shook his head. "I'll let it slide this time. Come with me."

What? _Angeal? _Letting something _slide_? Zack followed with a cocked eyebrow.

Angeal walked along the corridor with his puppy Zack in tow.

"Have you been keeping up with your field training?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Zack. "I leveled up and everything."

"Good," Angeal smiled, satisfied and fully trusting in Zack. _Was he ill?_

"So what's the gameplan Angeal?"

"You're going on a training mission."

Zack's face lit up. "Really? Awesome! Finally! Where we going to?"

"_I'm _not going anywhere."

"Huh?"

"I'm going to be back here at HQ putting my feet up and drinking gunpowder tea." Zack noticed they were still headed toward the helipad though.

"But you're not sending me alone," Zack protested.

"Of course not."

"So who am I going with?"

Angeal pushed the door to the helipad open and Zack nearly choked on his tonsils.

A man stood on the helipad like a dark effigy of sacrilege profaned, with hair like silver comet tails streaking down his back.

"_Dyayyy," _Zack almost threw up. He looked up at Angeal with eyes popping out of his sockets, and Angeal just stood there smiling.

"Be good now, Zack," he looked down on his student like a master petting his puppy, or moreover, like a father dropping his son off with his daycare teacher…his very scary daycare teacher with a twelve-foot daikatana.

The man took barely a sidelong glance at Zack, then turned like a flay of wings heading for the chopper. Zack pleaded up at Angeal, practically ready to turn on the waterworks to get out of this one.

"I wouldn't keep him waiting," cautioned Angeal, and Zack started shaking like a Chihuahua. He followed after the big man looking back over his shoulder with sad eyes, while Angeal smiled and waved.

The big man walked as if he barely touched the ground, rather he floated above it like a train of fabric. They filed into the chopper buckling themselves in, and still he said nothing, exuding a maddening quiet that paled his ward-for-the-day in comparison. Zack popped the Xanax he'd bought off his buddy Kunsel for just an occasion like this, and tried to breathe.

Zack knew deep in his core who this was, confirmed by his gut welling up in an existential crisis. This was Sephiroth, the hero of SOLDIER, the bloody harbinger of every war since Zack had been born. And now he was sitting three inches away from him in a cockpit the size of a closet.

The chopper carried them above the epicenter of the city, over the posh neighborhoods and shopping districts above the Plate. Midgar, a tetranormic archology like an armillary chromium cocoon, sprawled out in nine divided Sectors around the pinnacle of the Shinra Headquarters Building.

"Nine rings of Hell," Sephiroth muttered out his window, looking down on the constant construction zone of a city. Zack jumped at the fact that he spoke, his mood lifting considerably at the invitation for conversation.

"I think it looks more like a pizza," he smiled. A dismissive grunt from the man wiped it right off his face though, and Zack went back to just staring out his own window. The awkward silence returned with a vengeance.

They landed at a helipad in Sector 1—the SOLDIER patrol-code for a neighborhood known as North Edge—and boarded a bullet train chartered for the Midgar Wastelands beyond the city. Zack followed Sephiroth into an open car with bench seating along the walls, while other SOLDIER's and infantrymen gathered in uniform on their own missions or official business. They took their seats as the train sped off, bulleting for the wilderness far out of reach of Midgar.

Twenty minutes of traveling in silence and Zack was starting to get antsy. The nervous tension had him fidgeting in his seat, twenty minutes of sitting still was an accomplishment for Zack. He stood up and walked around the train car swinging his arms out.

An infantryman sitting by a window groaned in agony. Zack went over to him with a ramped smile.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

The infantryman squinted up at him, giving him the hand-motion for _so-so_.

"I wouldn't know," Zack shrugged with his hands on his hips in pride. "I've never had motion sickness."

The guy threw Zack a queer look and went back to being sick.

Zack tried another SOLDIER leaning against the emergency exit, _not the safest idea. _

"How are you doing today?" The guy just shrugged without even looking at Zack. "Alrighty then, have a good mission!"

Zack sauntered back up the train car and a hard voice slapped him upside the head.

_"Sit down_," ordered Sephiroth in a knife tone that pulled Zack straight into his seat. "You're like a child."

"I'm just psyched to try out this new Materia!" Zack beamed. Sephiroth looked away, his demeanor edged in dismissive annoyance. Once again Zack fidgeted in place.

"…Uh, so, can I like get a briefing or something? What are we up to all the way out here?"

The dark man's aura seemed to darken even more. He looked up with a subtle determination behind his Mako-infused cerulean eyes.

_"Hunting."_

Something clicked in Zack then as he looked over at Sephiroth, and all the anxiousness and nervousness snapped into a focused tension. Now they were speaking his language.

Then, _BOOM_!

Sephiroth and Zack went flying out of their seats, with Zack toppled halfway on top of him on the floor.

"Ahh! Something just crashed into the train!" yelled Zack as Sephiroth shoved him off.

"That would be our monster." He grabbed his daikatana to rush out of the train with Zack scrambling behind in tow.

They leapt out of the emergency exit to see a massive Undead Wyvern gnawing away on the engineer's car. Sephiroth and Zack rushed to the front of the train, but by the time they got there, the skeletal dragon spread gargantuan boned wings and flew off into the wilderness. A great rush of air that forced them down and it was halfway over the hilltops.

"Blast!" Sephiroth cursed. "Can't have an undead monster running loose, the disease will spread. We'll have to go after it."

"On foot?" Zack asked.

"No," Sephiroth squinted. "By magic carpet."

Then he started off into the wilderness with Zack trotting behind. A few minutes into their hike, Zack put his hands behind his head and started whistling, but Sephiroth shot him a glare that shut him right up.

The forest was like a matchstick factory, sparse with scraggly trees that reached up like skeletal hands. A sticker bush rustled in front of them, and a snarling silver lobo leapt out into their path. Zack drew his sword flipping into combat-mode, but Sephiroth remained upright—completely unfazed.

"Defeat your enemies in one blow," he ordered Zack while walking away. "You hear me? _One blow_."

"What, no demonstration?" Zack complained. The man kept walking.

Zack sighed. "One blow eh?"

The lobo leapt for Zack in lupine fury. He took a two-step mini-hop and _SLAM!_ He jettisoned his blade in a flash across the lobo to fell it where at his feet. The thing dropped dead and Zack rested his sword on his shoulder.

"Hah!" he spun around victorious to meet Sephiroth's approval, but found none there. The man's expression didn't flinch.

"Your opponent was weak. Try another."

"Aw what?"

Sephiroth kept on trailing the Wyvern. Zack sighed in frustration and followed.

They continued heading North East navigating by the sun, following the deep bellows they heard reverberating off the hilltops from the Wyvern. Sephiroth knew how to discern direction without getting confused by echoes, Zack would have been going in circles for days.

Then a similar bellow caught their attention, only closer…much closer. A Green Dragon flew overhead to touch down in front of Zack and Sephiroth, flaring scaled nostrils with fire in its eyes. It was the size of an ARMA mech-tank, a bulldozer of a beast, looking pissed and hungry to boot. Zack drew his sword, dropping into combat stance again, but Sephiroth just shrugged.

"Piece of cake, right?" he mocked Zack, who suddenly felt his knees knocking a little. He peered back at Sephiroth and held his composure.

"_Pfft_, duh."

Zack got the sensation of a spotlight on him, with a ticking clock in the corner of his vision. No time like the present, he rushed in dodging feral swipes from the dragon's angry claws. He pivoted on his lead leg, prepping for the attack. Two-step windup, SLASH! He ended up on the other side of the dragon expecting to turn and see it drop stark dead…only to turn and see it stark alive. The blood rushed from his face.

The dragon shot a barreling fireball that hit Zack in the torso like a ballista. It slammed him back thirty feet into a tree and was seeing stars, blurred vision, he couldn't feel his legs. Sephiroth drew his sword, sprinting at the dragon. Without a second though, his blade was through it in a lightning slash of white fire. The dragon groaned and dropped dead before it knew what had happened.

Zack slumped passed out against a tree, bits of hair and clothes singed and smoking like he'd just stuck a fork in an electrical outlet. Sephiroth went to him thinking it seemed like the sort of thing Zack would do. He cast Life to wake him up, grunted in disapproval and started off. Zack stumbled to his feet trying to get his vision steady, then followed the middle of three Sephiroths he saw whirling in front of him.

He kept his mouth decidedly shut for the rest of the hike, chewing on a Cliff Bar to get his strength back up. After another hour the bellows became louder, they were getting close.

They found it in a clearing between the foothills, delirious and disillusioned with disease. Zack flipped into go-mode like he'd done a hundred times with Angeal in live simulations, his body going taut and his breathing going quiet. He stalked like a predator, taking in the cerebral information of his environment for the attack. Sephiroth saw him phase, maybe there was hope for him after all.

The Wyvern lobbed its head back and forth monotonously, its wings fanning out over the ground in a careless stupor. Zack didn't even look at Sephiroth, his hunting instincts taking over.

"Left wing," he called out his mark.

"Right wing," Sephiroth called his, falling in tune with Zack's strategy.

The creature circled aimlessly, incoherent logic brewing in its dead brain. They waited for it to turn its back to them, then rushed in. Zack and Sephiroth ran across each other's paths like lionesses leaping for their wings in slicing slash-barrages. They bashed down on their marks in blade-crosses, ensuring the creature couldn't fly away, then regrouped in front to face off with it. A guttural roar escaped its gaping maw as it spewed noxious breath at the two assailants. They leapt away from each other avoiding the poison gas. Zack caught a tailwhip that knocked him back, but Sephiroth dashed slicing off the tail in his wake.

"Potion!" Sephiroth called, which confused Zack beyond words. Had he even taken a hit yet? He dug in his pockets anyway pulling out a water-bottled sized glass vial of aqueous gel, but he just held it there not quite sure what to do with it. It wasn't like he'd really ever used one before, and there weren't any instructions on the bottle. Meanwhile Sephiroth ducked and dodged wing swipes from a serrated bone claw.

"What are you waiting for!" he yelled at Zack with his sword swinging.

Zack looked at Sephiroth, looked at the bottle, looked back at Sephiroth, then threw it straight at his head. It shattered with the jingling of sparkling bells.

"OWWWWWW! WHAT THE HELL!" Sephiroth whirled, and Zack stopped breathing. "Not me, you idiot! The monster!"

Then it all clicked and Zack hurled another potion at the Wyvern. It shattered with an acid splash and the monster screamed in agony. Bubbling fusel ate its way through bone, disintegrating the thrashing beast in a growing puddle of noxious steam-membrane. The creature roared and squealed, beating itself off the ground in dying throaty groans. Then finally all that remained was a fizzing pile of bones in a black gunky slime.

_Conflict Resolved. _

Sephiroth charged over to where his ward stood dumbstruck, and Zack almost lost control of his bowels.

"Y-y-you s-s-s-s-said—"

"Empty your pockets," Sephiroth growled, bearing down on him like a demigod of fire and brimstone. Zack hurried to dig in his pockets pulling out a couple more potion bottles and an antidote. His wallet and a condom fell on the ground which he swiped up in a flash shoving deep in his back pocket, then he held out the bottles in his hands. Sephiroth snatched them all and threw them into the woods.

"Hey wh—"

He dug four gel marbles out of his own pocket and shoved them into Zack's hand.

"Don't buy from Shinra anymore. Do all your shopping at the Wall Market in Sector 5 from now on."

Zack stood there staring at the marble vials as Sephiroth started off. They were bootleg potions, super-concentrated via double-distil method and encased in a ball coating for easy transport. Illegal, and genius.

He dropped them in his pocket and ran after Sephiroth back toward the train.

.

[Received X-Potion]


	4. Chapter 4 - Briefing

Zack flayed his sword in a sweeping arc, rush-slashing in the stagnant air of the training room at seven in the morning before muster. He arc-swiped into a leaping downslash against an invisible enemy since the training room wouldn't activate for live sims until the techs rolled in at 9:30 for their 9-5 work day, his memory would suit him fine for now. He kept his entire body tense, moving fluidly through intricate free-form slashes in isometric unity like a gymnast, like an artist, like a surgeon dissecting dynamic fragments of technique; sleek as a predator on the prowl.

Two-step windup with his sword flipped back-handed, then hyperslice, seeming to sear the very fabric of space and time in a single slash. He started on one end of the training room and ended up on the other in one jet movement, just like Sephiroth had. But somehow, despite the artistry of his focus, he knew it was still not good enough. He could barely knock-out a gorgonopsid much less a behemoth. Zack broke form throwing his hands up, frustrated with himself again. Despite all his raw talent and high potential, the truth stung like a thousand needles. He wasn't good enough.

And he'd made a fool of himself yesterday in front of a decorated hero. He had no time to get down on himself at the moment, but took a rain check for after work that day to feel stupid, depressed, and pretty much like utter hell for a few hours. A few hundred speed-squats got his mood back up, and he headed out into SOLDIER wing.

He passed a conference room surprised to see Sephiroth waiting inside. The frosted glass affected the translucency of the pane, but there was no mistaking his imposing figure and Gunmetal-black non-standard-issue longcoat. Satellites would have trouble mistaking him from outer space.

Then someone else walked in, someone Zack didn't recognize. A girl about his age strode over to the big man and clicked her heels together at attention.

…_SOLDIER…?_

Were there even any girls in SOLDIER? Zack hadn't seen any, yet she wore the same pauldrons and two military stripes indicating a 2nd Class. He cocked his head.

_Well, guess so…_

Sephiroth put his hands on her shoulders pulling her in for a quick hug, and Zack understood. That was _his _student! The way Zack was Angeal's student, Sephiroth had one also, and it was a cute girl! He HAD to meet her.

They resumed their serious air and Zack saw Sephiroth's lips moving, he was briefing her on her next mission. She phased to go-mode in a flash as her body went taut, and Zack's body went limp.

Then she saluted her mentor and walked out of the conference room, _toward Zack!_

She strode with the grace of a panther, a lotus flower in human form. Jagged lilac hair sheered her brow like knives—short on one side, long on the other—she didn't give two damns what anyone thought of her and wore it on the outside like a mark of pride. She didn't wear the uniform—just like Sephiroth—an infantrygirl's battle-tunic that showed off lioness legs a man would either kill for or be killed by. A blood-red side-pouch strapped to her thigh, and a blood-stained Gunblade strapped to her back, Zack was halfway to Heaven swooning on hormones and happy-thoughts.

He ran up to her wagging his tail.

"Hiya! I'm Zack, SOLDIER 2nd Cl—"

But she shot him the meanest glare he'd ever received in his life. It threw him back against the wall holding his hands up harmlessly, and she continued on down the hall minding her own business. Sephiroth left the conference room following stead.

"H-hey!" Zack bounced up to him. "That girl. Do you know her? Who is she?"

But Sephiroth shot him another glare, and Zack knew where she'd learned it from.

"No one _you _need to worry about," he warned, then brushed past him on his way.

But Zack pressed him.

"Hey Sephiroth?" The big man turned with an air of annoyance, bearing down on the young kid that stood before him swallowing a lump in his throat. "I was wondering. Do 1sts get special privileges or something?"

Sephiroth squinted. "Why are you asking me?"

"Well…you're not an ordinary SOLDIER."

"If you want to know about being a 1st, talk to a recruiter."

Then he turned without another word, walking away like he didn't intend to stop even if President Shinra himself called his name. Zack slumped, knowing he'd made a fool of himself yet again, and his bad mood came right back in full swing. He sighed and strolled back down the hall with his hands in his pockets.

Another 2nd ran up to him around the corner. He was too distracted to recognize him immediately.

"Zack! What'up yo!"

"_Hrrngg_, hi Kunsel." Zack was so not in the mood to get ragged on, like he knew his old buddy from SOLDIER A-School was definitely going to do. Kunsel fell in step with him.

"I heard you broke a real sword in a simulation field! Whoa! What's it like to destroy company property with your mind?"

"Like being the chosen one, or the savior, or some other really big flashy tongue-lashing target."

"Hah! You seem on edge about it."

"I can't take it, I'm so bored! All this training and no assignments. It's like they're hanging me out to dry!" He jumped up grabbing the hallway overhang and did ten pullups, as was the ritual when anyone walked under that thing. Kunsel banged his out and they continued down the wing. "You must be having fun off base with everyone else."

"What haven't you heard? There's been a mass desertion at SOLDIER."

"Huh?" Zack stopped.

"One of the 1sts—that crazy one—he took a whole battalion of 2nds and 3rds with him. No one knows what he's up to."

"There's three crazy ones and I'm stuck with one of them. There's the big one, the bigger one and the flamboyant one, more specific will'ya?"

"The flamer, yeah. I dunno. Hey are you headed to Briefing?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Maybe they'll tell you there. In the meantime I got a new phone, take my number."

Zack whipped out his phone.

"HAH!" Kunsel nearly choked on his spit. "I'm lovin' the pink!"

"It's not pink! It's plumb!"

"You know I heard corporate assigns the _plumb_ ones to knuckleheads who lost theirs on basic training missions."

Zack grimaced, smoke practically billowing by his ears. "Whatever."

Kunsel called him and Zack saved his number.

"Alrighty, I'll see you later Zack-Attack, email if something comes up."

Zack threw him a two-finger lazy salute and headed to the stairwell. He reached the Director's Office and let himself in.

Inside was a large conference room with a lacquered-rosewood business table equipped with holodecks for each chair. Angeal and another man sat in front of their decks looking over readouts on their screens. The man Zack didn't recognize rose to receive him.

He looked like the kind of guy that came out of a box imported from some exotic foreign country, assembled in a sweatshop by nimble-fingered villagers and displayed on a runway downtown during Fashion Week. His gold hair was freshly permed and smelled of a chemical residue, and his fitted suit suggested a religious preference revolving around a peculiar form of tailor-worship.

"Zack," he smiled, "it's good to finally meet face to face. Lazard, Director of Soldier."

The man extended his hand in that guarded professionalism of business-casual. Zack regarded him, decided he wasn't going to bite, then shook it.

"Yo."

Lazard nodded, accepting his greeting. "On to business…"

The overhead computer threw a projection onto the big OLED screen above the conference table. Zack saw a mugshot of a SOLDIER complete with stats and background intel.

"SOLDIER 1st Class Genesis," said Lazard. "A month ago, he went missing during a mission in Wutai. Know anything about this?"

Angeal still sat with his gaze glued to the holoscreen in front of him, eyes fixed on the shot of this mystery man named Genesis.

Zack held up his hands. "Not a clue."

Lazard sat down in his seat and continued. "The mission is currently stuck in limbo. That's why we've decided to send you."

Zack hardly heard him though, why was Angeal not looking at him?

"Uh, to Wutai?"

"Yes." Lazard leaned forward in his chair, resting a distressed forehead on his hands. "This war has gone on long enough."

Angeal finally looked up from the holodeck meeting Zack's eyes. "Zack…I've recommended you for 1st Class."

_WHAAAAAAA?!_

Zack beamed, a mad laughter seized him, he couldn't believe it!

"AHHHHHH! Angeal!" He tackled his mentor in a big bear hug, jumping and shaking with his tail wagging. "Aw I love you, man! Angeal—"

Angeal shoved him off with a huge paw.

"Don't make me regret this."

"Sir!" Zack stood at attention, a huge stupid smile still on his face.

"Get your gear sorted. We'll leave at 1200 hours. I'm counting on you."

"SIR!" he stood up even straighter, with an even stupider sparkle of triumph in his eyes.

"By the way," Lazard interjected. "I've heard quite a bit about you Zack. If you don't mind me asking, what is your _dream_? To become a 1st, is it?"

"No," Zack turned away in a melodramatic pose. "To become a hero!"

"Ah, good!" Lazard leaned back. "Unattainable dreams are the best kind."

"Uh…thanks?" Zack winced, cocking his head like a puppy.

Angeal sat stoic as always. "You've got two hours Zack, I'll see you at the helipad."

Zack nodded. He knew the real meaning behind Angeal's instructions was _don't be late this time_. He clicked his heels together, did a full parade-dress turnabout and left the conference room.

_Don't trip don't trip don't trip._

_._

[Received Force Bangle]


	5. Chapter 5 - Wutai

Angeal and Zack ran like shadows through the knell of thick night, cloaked in that familiar darkness that was friend to all SOLDIER's. They skidded to a halt at a crossroad under a waxing moon, and Angeal took stock of their mission.

"Fort Tamblin is straight ahead. Let's hurry, B Unit is standing by."

They raced off down the forested path, footfalls hardly audible. They didn't anticipate the Wutai patrol coming down that same path.

"Who goes there?" a patrolman called. Zack and Angeal froze. Too late. Reinforcements were already closing in on the two operators.

Angeal dropped into a combat stance, but Zack just sauntered past, drawing his sword in a cocky twirl.

"_Tsh_, I got this. Just leave it to me."

The troops rushed like a swarm of lemmings encircling him in a blade-ring, he jump-stabbed them in the order they ran at him in. No group of enemies ever truly attacked at the same time, his mentor had taught him. Zack had one slash each and split seconds to change direction as enemies fell at his feet. The last one blocked his dashing upsweep, taking a few more swipes to neutralize. Not a _perfect _score, but awesome nonetheless.

"All right, next!" Zack threw his sword over his shoulder, bouncing on his heels.

Angeal just strolled past him annoyed. "Calm down Zack."

"No can do. The Director is ranking this mission himself, right? I have to make a good impression."

Angeal stopped, as if a sudden recollection had occurred to him. He scanned the treeline in thought.

"Zack…Do you know about _dumbapples?"_

"Uh…No, what is that?"

Angeal glanced back at him like he was crazy. "Unbelievable…How can you not know about dumbapples? You'll never make 1st at that rate."

Zack cocked his head after him.

"Whoa wait!" But his mentor just walked on. "_Angeeeeaaaalll, _what are dumbapples?!"

Angeal regarded his student, a subtle amusement at Zack's flustered expression. "The official name is Banora White. The trees bear fruit at random times during the year. Because of that, the townspeople affectionately call them dumbapples."

Angeal still gazed affectionately at the treeline, flashing back to earlier times; to trees that bent over like old women, bowing into the ground like an overhang of white branches, a tunneling walkway made of boughs.

"The locals had plenty to spare," he continued in his reminiscing tone.

"_Oh really? _So you stole them," Zack teased.

"We were poor, Zack."

"Nice excuse!"

Angeal's eyes took him to windmills in farm country, blue apples on bowed white trees.

"But even then," he continued, "I had my honor. The largest Banora White tree grew on a wealthy man's estate. It was rumored that those apples tasted the best. But I never stole from that tree because the wealthy man's son was my friend."

"If he was a friend, you should have just asked for some!"

Angeal stuck his finger up. "Honor can be quite a burden at times."

Zack sighed with hands on hips, contemplating like he was trying to use brain cells he didn't have. Angeal did this a lot, weaved intricate moral tales with hidden lessons for Zack to find like dog-biscuits. When he did find them, it was an exhausting philosophical dialogue that left Zack sleeping that night like they'd been sparring full-speed.

"So…what exactly does this have to do with me?"

Angeal leaned into his young student with mischief in his eyes. "No story is not worth hearing."

Then he strolled off, leaving Zack to scratch his head. But when Zack heard him laughing down the trail, he ran after him fuming.

"What? _That's it_?" Angeal just laughed harder. "Yeah, well, thanks a lot!"

Down the trail the air became tense and Angeal gave off a quiet vibe to initiate code-silence. Zack's body tensed with the subtle signals from his mentor, phasing from a bounding puppy to a stalking wolf. They came to a pagoda and crouched behind some brush. The Fort.

Zack skidded to a crouch behind his mentor, feeling his muscles coiling like a panther again. Angeal scanned the target.

"B Unit will set off an explosion. That's our cue."

Zack got it. "The diversion will allow us to infiltrate."

He and Angeal were on the same wavelength, but Angeal talked so Zack could figure it out on his own, get his student's strategic brain muscles working.

"Right," he nodded. "I'll set the bomb inside the fortress. You'll charge the front gate, and—"

Zack's eyes were alight with excitement, fidgeting and nodding like someone waved a biscuit at him. He hung on Angeal's words wagging his tail.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, and? _Andandandand_?" he waved his fists ready to box, he could hardly contain his anticipation. Angeal made him sweat it out for another long few seconds.

"Indulge yourself."

"_YESSSS!" _He clapped his hands. "That's what I do best!" Then he turned back to the pagoda, using those strategic brain muscles to plan his attack. But ten minutes went by, then twenty, and still no signal.

"_AAAARRRRGGGH. _C'mon B Unit!" he bounced and fidgeted uncontrollably, energy zigzagging through his taut body.

In a moment of reflection to pass the time, Angeal unsheathed his sword, held it to his forehead in silent prayer, then resheathed it, returning back to quiet observation. Zack's eyes implored, his raised eyebrows did the rest.

"You know, I've never actually seen you use that…Don't you think it's sort of a waste?"

Angeal _harrumphed_ . "Use brings about wear, tear, and rust...And that's a real waste."

He said it so matter-of-factly, like he'd pulled it straight from the Webster's dictionary. By now Angeal could almost point out on cue when Zack was about to cock his head.

"You're serious aren't you?"

"Yep," he mocked. "I can be…pretty cheap."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no kidding."

Then. Explosion. _The signal_.

Angeal shot to the edge of the brush, his gaze whipped back to Zack.

"Begin mission."

And that one word sent Zack leaping off toward the fort. It was time to go hunting. Angeal dashed around to the left flank to take advantage of Zack's diversion.

Zack showed up at the front gate like the cavalry was behind him. The Wutai army, seeing little Zack saunter up like a king behemoth, burst out laughing.

"_No one passes beyond this point! The enemy is but one man! Obliterate him!_" And they came in whirling troves of naginatas and blade-spears.

Zack dashed in with his claws out.

Blades flailed in that shape a neutron makes orbiting around its atom, a positively-charged chain-reaction that shattered covalent bonds among other things—like limbs. With the ferocity of an alley-cat fight, and with equally as little visibility, Zack fought in a whirl of singed steel until he was the only one swinging, approximately fifteen minutes.

He spun his sword onto his back, tasting sweet savory victory. "Piece of cake."

Running on into the fort, two adjacent watch-towers stood on either end of the main gong-tower in front of him. He ninja'd his way up to the roof, crouched down at the edge and took stock of his situation, that evil grin creeping up again. Four guards, heavily armed. _Good, a challenge._

Zack couldn't resist, he leapt down into the fray.

A flying crescent-slash felled all four of them, and as they reared back to their feet a reverse-slash sent them flying. Not bad, two hits.

After he dispatched them, his phone went off. He flipped it to his ear.

"Were you able to get inside?" Angeal spoke from the other line. Zack rubbed the back of his head.

"Well I dunno, she had some issues and wasn't that cute anyway, figured I'd stay off that on-ramp."

"The fortress, Zack, focus."

"_Tshh_, I could have done it blindfolded!"

"Don't get too careless. Intel says the Wutai keep a large monster for SOLDIER purposes. It should be somewhere in the fort."

"If I take it out, do you think I'll make 1st?"

"It depends on the quality of your work. Your main duty is to draw the Wutai troops to you by running amok. Do that well, and the Director will give you a favorable performance eval."

"Running amok huh? And I thought this was gonna be challenging." He clicked on Angeal and ran off to start a fight, bloodlust in his eyes.

A secret wall fell away to his right, troops jumped out in a whirl. They flipped their naginata's backhanded, revealing them to be concealed rifles, and opened fire. Zack charged on anyway.

"Do not falter!" called the Sergeant. "Stand and fight!"

But when he turned around, his troops ran off. "Damn you all!"

Zack pounced like a leopard not giving his prey time to breathe. His sword bashed off the Sergeant's naginata, knocking him back as Zack jump-stabbed him into a far wall. He charged in with a double slash-down and it was all over.

His phone rang. The Director. "It appears you're doing well Zack. The enemy forces within Fort Tamblin have been effectively reduced to half. You may proceed to the central area if you'd like. But be careful, the enemy is hurt but not down."

Then the line went dead. The Director was indeed pretty _direct. _

Zack proceeded onto the main pagoda, a rock garden complete with cherry blossom trees surrounding its perimeter. He started to climb the steps to the entrance when suddenly…

"One. Avoid unnecessary training."

Zack stopped on a dime. The voice came from nowhere.

"Two. Protect Wutai at all costs!"

_Dafuq? _Who was that?

"Three. Ugly Shinra SOLDIER dudes…must be PUNISHED!"

Then a little kid hopped out on top of the steps ready for a good old fashioned beat down, hair cropped short under a dojo bandana and shoelace strings untied.

Zack cocked his head. "Who are you?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I'm Wutai's greatest warrior! That's who! If you wanna go further, you have to go through me!"

"A kid…?" Zack stood dumbfounded. "You shouldn't be playing here, it's dangerous! Go home to your parents."

"You're the one who's going home! If you insist on going any further, you'll have a fight on your hands!"

"Oh man…what am I supposed to do here?" Zack rubbed the back of his head. "Alright kiddo, you got me! Now go tell your parents about how you beat me up!"

"Better yet, I'll show them!"

She ran down the steps punching him straight in the crotch.

_OOOOOOFH!_

Zack went down cross-eyed as she snagged his Fire Materia and ran away laughing.

"That'll teach you to mess with me! Once again, I've brought peace to Wutai!"

_Ohh, it's going to the stomach! _

Zack groaned on the ground in agony for a minute until his phone rang. He knew Angeal was watching from somewhere. He let it go to voicemail, got up, shook himself out, and went back to work.

He ran up the stairs to the pagoda entrance and shoulder-bashed through the doors. Inside was a round arena-like space, devoid of furniture and held up by columns and pillars. Strangely enough, it was empty, no one was there. Nothing.

His phone rang again.

"'sup Angeal?"

"Having _trouble_ Zack?" He could practically feel the smirk in Angeal's voice.

"_No," _Zack grimaced. "It looks like I got everyone, there's nobody left here."

"Good work. Now get out of there quickly. I'm prepping to detonate on your mark."

"Understood!" He clicked on him and looked around once more, throwing his arms wide in triumphant display. "Hey Director Lazard! Are you watching?"

He started at a trot toward the entrance. "Gonna make First, gonna make First, oh yeah, gonna make First."

Then, the sound of a board snapping reached his ear. Zack stopped—a crackling echo, the splintering of wood. As dust fell down in front of him, he glanced up to see the roof cleaving in. In a flash, he dove out of the way as a monstrous King Behemoth fell through the ceiling with a guttural roar.

Zack leapt back drawing his sword on the bear-wolf-dragon-thing.

"Shoot, in a hurry here. No time to play!"

The behemoth lunged in feral slashes while Zack backflipped away, springing off one hand and landing in combat stance. Then he charged in with his sword flailing.

He leapt in his signature _jump-slashy-thingy _onto the monster's back, but leapt right back off as a massive claw bat where he stood. He dive-rolled in close, upslashing as he rolled to his feet. His blade caught the behemoth under the chin, splattering hot blood across the wood panel flooring, which only served to piss it off more. It lunged and Zack strafed left, _an opening_, he leapt in at its neck jabbing his sword deep into flesh. The creature roared in agony, then flopped in a tumult to the ground.

_Conflict Resolved. _

He strolled over to the carcass in cocky blade twirls and kicked it like it was nothing…It woke up batting him across the room.

Zack flew against the post hitting his head hard, stars and tweeting birds flying before his eyes that started fading to black. A voice spoke to him from his falling subconscious…

_Overconfidence will destroy you. _

Zack ripped himself back from unconsciousness to find the massive monster closing in, dripping fangs and feral claws stalking toward him for the kill. He struggled back, holding his sword in front of him like it was somehow supposed to scare it.

"Not good…"

This was it. He was a gonner.

Then, a single slash ripped time and space in two, a blinding flash of razed light, and the monster dropped dead. Zack looked up surprised to see Angeal standing behind the fallen corpse, sword splayed out in combat stance.

He shot Zack a grin. "That's one more you owe me."

Zack shook his head, trying to get his bearing, while Angeal stood over him with his sword. "You lost your focus."

Zack sighed embarrassed, having trouble owning up again.

"Uh…yeah."

Then it occurred to him, Angeal had used his sword! Zack didn't miss a beat.

"Oh sorry if your sword got any wear, tear, or rust on it."

"You're a little more important than my sword," Angeal sheathed it over his back, absolutely no trouble wielding that huge thing. With a smile in his eyes and his fingers pinched an inch apart, he looked back at Zack. "…But just a little."

No lectures, no chiding, no smart remarks, he extended his hand to his student. Zack stared at it for a moment regarding Angeal; he seemed proud of him, looking down on him like he was trying to hold in some beaming emotion. He couldn't figure out why he seemed so satisfied with him when he'd failed, yet again. Then it occurred to him—if Angeal had wanted him to take the entire mission himself, he wouldn't have been a phone call away, waiting in the wings for him. Perhaps he hadn't expected him to make it as far as he did without having to intervene. Perhaps Zack hadn't quite hit Command's ridiculous expectations, but had exceeded every single one of his mentor's.

Feeling like he'd grown just a little, Zack returned Angeal's smile and took his hand.

.

[Level Up!]


	6. Chapter 6 - Angeal

Angeal and Zack rendezvoused in the predetermined fall-back spot, a thicket a mile out from the Fort. Lazard was there with two infantrymen escorts.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he stepped on something and shook his foot out. "I'm not used to being on site."

Zack couldn't help being a little annoyed, the guy wore Gucci and Prada out in the field and then complained about it!

"You didn't have to come," said Angeal, apparently thinking the same thing Zack was.

"This operation will bring an end to the war. I have to see it through personally."

Angeal grunted an affirmation and then Lazard turned to Zack.

"Soldier 2nd Class Zack Fair," Zack snapped to attention. "You performed your duties admirably at Fort Tamblin. I saw it with my own eyes…well, through the Predator Drone's eyes at least. Frankly, my evaluation of you is…"

Zack stood up straighter than straight, full of excitement for the answer he knew was coming—the one that stared with an _"f"_ and ended with an _"irst class."_

"…just what I would expect of a 2nd Class SOLDIER. You performed amicably and efficiently. Well done."

Zack slumped halfway to the ground. Angeal patted his back in sympathy, but the moment didn't last long.

"Now let's hurry. Sephiroth and B Unit are waiting on the other side."

Zack pricked up. "Sephiroth's here?"

Then, a whirling sound sliced air as two shuriken struck the infantrymen dead where they stood. Zack and Angeal whipped around as two more shot for them, but Zack drew his sword in a flash batting them back at their assailants, and two Wutai troops fell dead from the trees.

Then more troops dropped down, surrounding them and closing in. _Ambush_.

Zack rushed in a gallant flourish, adrenaline shooting in electric jolts, no playing around now. He drove his sword through the chest of one trooper, back-stabbed a troop behind him, then spin-slashed in a hyperphonic sword-twirl. He ran to strike another, but they'd all fallen, his body took a moment to come down from the surge. He couldn't stop shaking.

"Zack! Come on!" called Angeal. Zack found him and Lazard a little ways ahead, studying the bodies Zack had rebounded the shuriken at. Then more troops rallied from ahead, rushing in arrowhead formation for them. Angeal dropped into a combat stance.

"Take the Director to a safe place," he ordered Zack.

"Then contact Sephiroth," called Lazard.

"Zack is more than enough. Now go!"

Zack ran to Lazard. "Follow me, Director." He looked back at Angeal once, then hurried away with Lazard.

Zack ran bash-barreling through underbrush with the Director in tow, he better have been grateful that Zack was clearing a path for him and his nice clothes while leaving Angeal behind to make due on his own. They reached the helispot where a detachment of Shinra paratroopers waited on standby.

"I should be fine now," called Lazard. "Go assist Angeal!"

"I know, I know!" Zack was already racing back the way he came, running like someone else's life depended on it.

He charged down the animal trail calling Angeal's name, but there was no response. Angeal was nowhere, yet the two Wutai bodies still laid there splayed out like hunted deer. Zack went over to them, taking a closer look.

"What?" he stood confused. "These guys aren't Wutai troops…"

Suddenly, a floating orb of Materia hovered to him like a bubble. It flashed malefic red, then pulled him into a parallel realm of fire. The forest became a volcanic fissure, and before him stood a creature conjured from the depths of Hell itself.

The daemon Ifrit stood like a pair of behemoths stacked on top of one another, with cloven feet and abbadonian horns wreathed in immortal fire.

"A Summon!" exclaimed Zack. "Who called it out?"

A towering colossus of unholy majesty, Ifrit rushed for Zack in a stampeding barrage, while Zack dove away equipping his Ice Materia. He was definitely going to need it for this one.

The fire-beast sent a wall of flame hurling at Zack in an infernal nuclear nimbus, while Zack threw up an Ice Barrier. It melted in seconds, but kept him safe long enough to start hurling ice magic at the fiend. Fire missiles shot for Zack, he ducked and dodged, rolling away, sending ice rockets flying right back mid-strafe. Calamity cast down on them in apocalyptic maleficence as a Fire and Ice spell collided in the midst of their battle arena, the blastwave sent Zack toppling across the ground. As the creature prepared another stampeding rush, Zack charged a Power-Slash, imbuing all the Ice Magic he had left. The demon ran at Zack, he leapt to the side, and overhead slashed with all his might. Everything he had left pierced through the unholy carapace of the fire daemon, and it went down with a mighty, guttural roar.

Zack turned away, once again thinking he'd won, but the creature still stirred. It stood up, sending a pyroclast of flame at him in a tidal wave of nuclear heat, Zack was out of Magic. He ducked, preparing for the blow, waiting to be bathed in wildfire.

But then something flashed in front of him, something holding the wall of fire at bay. An infernal angel stood with his daikatana out like a proclamation to the sun, guarding Zack against the fray. His eyes were dark against the fire, his countenance smoldering as if to challenge the flame. A single slash and Ifrit had fallen, the blinding explosion bathing him in hot aural radiance as he drove his blade skyward. Sephiroth held his ground, victorious as the fire realm faded back to forest.

"Holy…" Zack stood taken aback, as if he had witnessed an avenging angel absolve him.

Sephiroth went to kneel down by the bodies. He turned one over and all was as he had feared.

"_Genesis_," he said.

Zack went over to the body. He recognized the face, the same face from the mug shot in briefing.

"The missing SOLDIER 1st Class?"

Sephiroth turned the other body over, and Zack gasped. "They're identical!"

"A Genesis copy," explained Sephiroth.

"Copy? A human copy?"

Sephiroth looked up at him with urgency. "Where's Angeal!"

Zack looked taken aback. "I thought he was fighting around here…" He looked around on the ground, no tracks, as if he'd vanished without a trace.

Sephiroth grunted. "So he's gone too."

"What?" Zack spun around aghast, but the big man just stood as Zack pressed him. "Wait, what does that mean?"

Sephiroth looked out into the wilderness, toward something illusive and out of sight. "It means Angeal has betrayed us as well."

"NO WAY!" Zack glared, panic edging his voice. "I know what kind of guy Angeal is. And he'd never do that!"

He pursued Sephiroth, who looked to the sky seemingly for answers that weren't there. The dark man turned to face Zack, the young hunter standing strong and ready to fight all the forces of the world. Sephiroth regarded him, always the voice of absolute truth, not needing to say anything, his presence said all. He bore into Zack's eyes, as if he knew better, and Zack faltered yet again.

"Who do you think called out the Summon?" asked Sephiroth in an almost reassuring tone, it hit Zack like a curse.

"Angeal wouldn't betray us! Never!" He shook his head, yet terrible tears welled up in his eyes. He stepped back from Sephiroth, angry fire rising to cover pain the big man knew was there. Sephiroth let him, just stood there gazing at him as he backed away. Zack would learn the ways of the world the hard way, this twenty-something kid with pierced ears and spiked hair would know what it meant to grow up.

.

[Received Ifrit Materia]


	7. Chapter 7 - MIA

To: Angeal_**dot**_J_**dot**_Hewely_**at**_SOLDIER**_dot_**Shinra**_dot_**mil

From: ZackFair21_**at**_SOLDIER**_dot_**Shinra**_dot_**mil

CC/BCC: None

Re: Talk to me

Angeal—It's Zack. Command told me not to try contacting you but I'm doing it anyway.

Man, what's with you? How long are you gonna slack off like this? It's been a month now!

Sephiroth's got it all wrong, lumping you together with Genesis. Genesis is a deserter who took a bunch of 2nds and 3rds with him. He used his copies to attack us! I know you would never condone something like that. You value your SOLDIER honor more than anyone else. Ugh! Everything's so messed up these days.

Angeal, just come back, please! Or if you don't want to come back, just come find me. I go on a lot of missions out in the Wastelands on purpose, I'm easy to spot. I don't know what's going on but you're my friend and I respect you, and I trust you. Whatever's up I want to help.

Please.

Talk to me.

—Zack

.

Zack thought about Angeal non-stop, worrying himself thin. He was alone now, left to take care of himself. He kept up the old habits as if Angeal had never left. If Zack was even a minute late, he hauled himself to the training room and did power-squats with his sword over his head until a puddle of sweat lay on the ground at his feet. He didn't have to, it's not like anyone was there to yell at him if he let it slide, but he remembered what Angeal told him about honor, and kept himself in line all on his own.

"Zack, it takes more than pride to become First," Angeal had said to him what seemed like a long time ago now. Zack had just smiled in triumph with his chest puffed out and his hands on his hips.

"Whatever it takes I've got it. And if I don't got it I'll get it! I will fulfill my dreams, and I _will_ become a hero."

Angeal had regarded him, and turned away. It was the day he'd decided to take him on as his student.

"Very well, then you have my support."

That's what Zack was doing now, in the training room, punishing himself for being late. The thing was, he wasn't late, but he wanted to be. He wanted to be so bad just to goad Angeal to come yell at him, but no one came.

Then Zack's phone rang, he answered it with no greeting.

"SOLDIER 2nd Class Zack?" a deep voice asked from the other line.

"That would be me," he replied in a low tone, his earlier enthusiasm seemingly sucked from his being. "Who is this?"

"Director Lazard wants to see you. Go to the briefing room."

"Hey! Wait!" Anger tinged his voice as the line went dead. Zack shut his phone with a growl and put it back in his pocket. _Who was that?_

He ran to the briefing room to find Lazard at his desk, resting his chin on a hand. He seemed troubled and deep in thought.

"Any word on Angeal?" Zack hurried to him.

Lazard sighed leaning back in his seat. "He hasn't contacted his family either."

Zack shared that sigh of frustration. "So what's this about?"

"A new assignment. I want you to go to the hometown of our missing SOLDIER 1st Class, Genesis."

He said _he_ wanted him to go, not that it was something his company wanted from him. Zack got the feeling that they were both throwing their hands up and making business personal for their friend.

"According to the parents, they've had no contact with Genesis whatsoever…But, they can't be trusted."

"Why?"

"…They're his family."

Zack rubbed the back of his head and walked around the room as if to flow with his thoughts.

"I had already dispatched some staff, but we've lost contact," said Lazard. Mug shots of two agents appeared on his holoscreen, the moniker _LOST _displayed across their digital folios. "I want you to go investigate. _He_ will go with you."

Zack turned to see a tall, thin man in a charcoal-microcheck suit enter their orbit. His epicanthic folds and tightly pulled hair made him a descendant of the Bengal tribes—which were still around and kicking in some parts of the world—and the red _bindi_ on his forehead meant that he held the virtues of intellect and knowledge in a spiritual sanctity…that or he was just married. Either way, Zack squinted when he saw the man approach them in that up-tight roboticism of business-formal.

"Tseng, of the Turks," he introduced himself with no change of expression. Hard gazes were exchanged between him and the SOLDIER as Zack slouched in mock-disgust. _Did he really have to do this?_

The Shinra military wing was divided up into a few different departments; there was the Security Force and there was SOLDIER. The two units were very distinct from one another and butted heads frequently, but THEN there were the Turks. Everyone could hate each other but when it came to them, everyone hated them equally. At the high end of their Mission Occupation Specialty, they were tasked with above-top-secret level corporate espionage and Special Operations recruiting…but at the low end they basically broke up parties in SOLDIER wing for underage drinking on premises. Self-absorbed secret agents—everyone's Big Brother. How low could you get?

Zack squinted. "This job is looking really gloomy…"

Lazard just leaned back on his chin. Everyone would have to put up with uncomfortable situations.

"Let me know when you're ready to go," said Tseng. It was a suggestion that wasn't, as if he was ordering Zack around with a velvet hammer. "You sure you're up for this?"

"_Pfft_, A routine job right? No sweat."

"I wonder," said Tseng as Zack sauntered about. "Originally, Sephiroth was assigned to this mission—"

That got Zack's attention.

"—That means it's a top priority matter. Be alert, or you'll fail."

"And Sephiroth?" Zack asked with urgency.

"Refusing to go, apparently."

"Oh what is that? They spoil him too much."

Tseng chuckled. "Why don't you say that to his face?"

"_Dyayy_ uhh…no thanks." The thought gave Zack the heebie-jeebies. Then his phone rang again. He never kept his phone off during meetings anymore…in case someone important tried calling him.

"Excuse me." He turned away to take the call. "Hello?"

"Zack, it's Kunsel. Did you read my mail?"

_Errrgh, this was not someone important._

"Not yet. I'll read it later. I'm kinda in a meeting right now—"

"Ah, gotcha. Hey, can I talk to you after that, though?"

"Well, if you keep it short, I guess. Haven't got much time."

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be short. I'll be right outside the briefing room."

Zack clicked on Kunsel and returned his phone to his pocket. He met the gazes of everyone in the room and promptly dismissed himself.

Kunsel met him outside the briefing room just like he said he would.

"Hey, Zack!"

"What's up Kunsel?" Zack went over to him trying to shake the encounter with the Turk.

"I just wanted to talk to you about what I think about Angeal and this whole thing. It seems every SOLDIER 1st Class has a quirk or three, but I think Angeal has a lot of common sense and is a trustworthy fellow. I mean, let's face it, Genesis never found group activities appealing, so Angeal is, in fact, the spiritual leader of SOLDIER. I've got a lot of respect for him and envy you for getting to work by his side."

That caught Zack off-guard, and his mood lightened.

"Thanks Kunsel, that means a lot to me. When he gets back you should tell him all this too."

"Really? You think he'd care?"

"Of course he'd care! He'd stick his neck out for anyone in SOLDIER, he takes care of his own…" Then Zack stopped. The memories came back again, and he thought of Angeal. "That's just the kind of guy he is."

"What about you Zack? How you holding up? You haven't been yourself lately, seems like all your zest is gone."

Zack shrugged.

"Yo, look, what time you headed out on your assignment?"

"Oh-nine-hundred tomorrow."

"What say you and me go hang out in Sector 8, hit the bars and have a time? C'mon you need it, you're wrung like a towel."

He had a point. Zack hadn't been himself in a while, and it wasn't just him who was uptight, it seemed everyone in the department was a little on edge. Everyone was confused wondering what the people they'd previously looked up to were setting as an example for them to emulate. The elite unit of SOLDIER was very small and very secluded, so when something went down with one person it went down with everyone. Zack thought that maybe he had also been inadvertently contributing to the tensions felt unit-wide by being uptight himself, so maybe Kunsel didn't have half-bad of an idea. Zack agreed and they got out of the Shinra Building for a while.

They hit the Sector 8 Fountain District with its chic little cafes lined along a _modernisme_ Union Square. Kunsel wanted to go to the bar, but Zack really didn't feel up for it. Now that he was out there he really didn't want to talk about Angeal to the likes of Kunsel, who was a good friend until he wasn't. They ended up just walking along the boardwalk adjacent to Loveless Avenue, lined with souvenir shops and bookstores and artists doing caricatures for a gil.

Just then, a couple of girls approached them looking like they just got out of University study-hall.

"'scuse me, are you guys SOLDIER?"

Kunsel stood up straight, cracking a smile. "Yeah, that's us." He punched Zack in the back to get him to straighten up too.

They let out a giddy squeal amongst themselves and fawned all over them.

"We're in fan clubs," they said, "and we're debating which SOLDIER 1st Class is the best. I say it's definitely Angeal with his solemn sentimentality, he's so noble."

"_Nuh-uh_," argued her girlfriend, "Sephiroth is the best hands-down. Just picturing him stripped to the waist makes me dizzy."

Zack and Kunsel pinched their lips with their teeth. These fangirls were nuts but crazy girls were always good for something _temporary_.

Kunsel was all over them. They wanted to go to the Goblin Bar but Zack still really didn't want to. A month ago he would have jumped at this opportunity even if it meant showing up to work late, hung-over, and set for a grinder PT that would have him spewing his guts out for the next pay-period. But now there was just so much else on his mind, and these freaks of girls were just a little too freaky for him.

Kunsel just patted him on the shoulder with two girls on his other arm.

"Well hey man, it's probably best we split here then. I'll catch you later?"

"What?" Zack exclaimed. "You bring me out here and now you're leaving me?"

"Well, you have an assignment waiting don't you? You probably want to be heading back anyway for an early start tomorrow."

"…"

"So I'll see ya, Zack. I'll shoot you an email when I find the time." Then he took off with the girls.

Kunsel, a good friend until he wasn't.

.

[Received Hyper]


End file.
